My Chemical Bromance
by alwaysanavenger11
Summary: AU. Bruce Banner Hulk and Tony Stark Iron Man are younger and become good friends. They end up doing all sorts of scientific experiments and protect each other from the jungle known as high school. No romance between Banner and Stark but an adorable connection. Rated M for abuse in later chapters and not always the best of language.
1. Chapter 1

"Don't get too cocky, Anthony. You're mother is insistent on you making friends," Howard Stark says to his son as they ride in the black Lincoln to Albert Einstein High School.

"I'll be fine, Dad. And for the last time, it's Tony," Tony Stark fiddles with the zipper on his backpack, bored on the car ride to school.

"I helped name you, kid," Howard chuckles. "I'm sure your name is Anthony."

Tony rolls his eyes, but a small smile plays on his lips. "You and Mom are the only ones that call me Anthony."

Howard smiles as well. "If we had liked the name Tony better than Anthony, we would have names you Tony."

The car pulls up in front of the building. Some of the students stare for a moment before resuming their progression into the building.

Tony moves to leave the car, but he was stopped by a firm hand on his shoulder.

"I'm serious, Anthony. Behave. Just because you're smart doesn't mean you're superior," Howard says.

"I know, Dad." Tony shakes off his father's hand, exiting the car. He slings his backpack over his shoulder as the door closes bwhind him. "I just can't let them think I'm /too/ superior."

Tony navigates through the school easily. He locates his locker and heads to class. He gains a few stares, but he basks in the limelight. It's rare to see an 11-year-old boy strutting down the hallway of a high school.

He enters into his Honors Chemistry class, expecting to be the youngest one there among sophomores. In his head, he was even better because he was registered as a freshman.

Slouched in the back, however, was a smaller boy who looked to be no more older than Tony was. Clad in a worn gray sweater and holey jeans, the boy twirls a pencil in his fingers, avoiding eye contact. He frowns slightly and takes a seat towards the front of the class.

The bell rings signaling the beginning of class, and the teacher closes the classroom door.

"Welcome to Honors Chemistry. I'm Mr. Henry," he says, picking up a piece of paper. "You will have assigned seats in this class. You better get used to them because they won't change."

He glances up from his paper. "Do we have freshman in here? Stand up."

Tony and the boy in the back stand.

Mr. Henry's eyes widen slightly. "How old are the two of you?"

"I'm 11, sir," Tony declares, almost eagerly.

"11," the boy in the back softly responds.

"Names?" Mr. Henry writes something on his paper.

"Tony Stark, but it probably says Anthony Stark on your class list," Tony replies.

"Bruce Banner," the boy in the back says, resuming the twirling of his pencil.

"Well, Tony, Bruce, to avoid awkward instances between your older classmates, I am going to seat the two of you next to each other up here in the front." Mr. Henry points to a work bench on the far right of the room towards the window.

Tony slowly collects his stuff as he moves to their new seat almost to prolong the other student's stares. He smirks as he moves, relishing in the fact that all of these sophomores were probably feeling stupid now. Bruce follows suit but much quicker, putting on his ratty black backpack.

"Now, Samantha Abbot – ." Mr. Henry began to put the rest of the 1st hour Honors Chemistry students into their assigned seats.

Tony turns to Bruce as Mr. Henry begins to get frustrated with his seating chart. "You're name is Bruce, right?"

Bruce nods, without making eye contact. He twirls his pencil, seeming anxious. "You're name is Stark, right?"

"Well, that's my last name. My first name's Tony." He opens up his brand new backpack, and pulls out a notebook.

"You related to the guy who started Stark Enterprises?" Bruce's pencil slips out of his hand and clatters to the floor. He blushes before picking it up quickly. As he rights himself in his seat, he sinks lower into his chair.

Tony grins proudly. "That would be my father, Howard Stark."

Bruce glances at Tony before his eyes dart away. "That's cool, I guess."

Tony raises an eyebrow. "You guess? That makes sense. It's not a million dollar company that makes weapons and advances in technology or anything because there is _nothing _cool about that."

"You're right. Nothing cool at all." Bruce half smiles as his pencil stops twirling.

Tony shrugs. "I guess someone like you _would _say something like that."

Bruce's smile disappears instantly. "Someone like me?" His head swivels to glare at Tony as he sits up straight.

Tony nods, fiddling with his notebook. "Yeah. Someone like you."

"What's so wrong with _me_?" Bruce's voice raises slightly as his face turns a deep red.

Tony looks up carelessly at Bruce. "You know, someone who is too arrogant to realize what companies like that actually do."

Bruce scoffs rather loudly. "It was a joke, you snob. And I bet you don't know the first thing about the business your dad does! Like he would tell you! If he was building a 10 foot robot, I can promise that you would be one of the last people to know! Companies like Stark Enterprises wouldn't be so stupid as to tell an 11-year-old boy exactly what type of things they are inventing. Especially one as big-mouthed and arrogant as you!"

"Congratulations, Bruce, you've passed the test. I can now conclude that you aren't an idiot." Tony opens his notebook, still glancing at Bruce.

Mr. Henry appears beside their work bench. "Is there a problem here, boys?"

Tony shakes his head, his gaze never leaving Bruce's angered face. "Not at all, Mr. Henry. Bruce and I are just establishing that neither of us are idiots. I think it's the making of a _beautiful_ friendship. Don't you agree, Bruce?"

Bruce half-grins realizing what Tony was attempting to probe out of him. "Simply beautiful, Tony."

**Sorry, I kind of suck. At the end there, I was trying to make Tony test if Bruce was one of those smart kids that are actually really ignorant to the outside world if you get what I mean. Again, I apologize if this is kind of disappointing. I'll try to write better, but I will need your suggestions and reviews to do so. Not by far the end of this story, so hopefully it get's better as I go. :P**


	2. Chapter 2

When the class bell rang, signaling the end of the hour, Bruce didn't know what to think of his new chemistry partner. Tony was arrogant and obnoxious, but he was smart like Bruce. Bruce had never met anyone who was advanced as he was at his age. Tony would be and was Bruce's only peer.

"So, that girl that sat a few rows behind us couldn't stop talking about how smart we'd have to be," Tony said. "She acted like we were gods or something. She was blonde, so that explains why she thought we were so incredibly smart."

Bruce thought, _Maybe Tony being my only peer actually is a bad thing._ "Or maybe she was just surprised to see two eleven-year-olds as her classmates. It's not everyday that boys in middle school are taking a sophomore class as eleven-year-old freshman."

Tony ignored the statement. "She didn't even look like a real natural blonde. Still sort of pretty though. In a trying-to-hard kind of way."  
Tony's eyes raked over everyone passing by almost like he was scrutinizing who was worthy and who wasn't which is pretty dangerous to do as the bottom of the high school food chain.

"So, what's your next class?" Tony asked, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Bruce glances at his schedule. "Uh, looks like I have Honors English."

"Me too. Wouldn't it be wacky if we had the same exact schedule?" A pseudo-surprised expression spread across Tony's face.

"Yeah, completely wacky." Bruce folded up his schedule, slipping it into his back pocket. He pushed his glasses higher up onto his nose.

"So how did you skip?" Tony asked actually focusing on Bruce this time.

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked curiously.

"How did you skip grades?" He repeated. Then, she sighed slightly annoyed. "You know, when did people realize you didn't belong with people our age. They realized I was a genius when in first or second grade I kept getting in trouble with the teacher for not doing any work or paying any attention in class. They originally thought I had ADHD or something, but they gave me the test and I did better than kids four and five years older than me. Since I'm Howard Stark's son, they just knew I had to have inherited his brain."

"You do demonstrate attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms, so I can see why they assumed that," Bruce replied simply.

"Thank you, Dr. Banner," Tony said sarcastically until he stopped both of their progress down the hall. "Dr. Banner. I like that. Suits you well, Doc." He grins before resuming walking.

Bruce hesitates whilst walking, mulling over the name. "My teachers kept watching me finish homework in approximately 5 minutes. So, they continuously bumped me up a grade until my mother got upset because she thought I wouldn't have friends and scar myself emotionally. I don't mind having friends. I find it easier to not lose control when I'm by myself."

"Didn't," Tony corrected his eyes returning to scan other students.

"What?" questioned Bruce.

"You _didn't_ mind having friends because you see, we just established our friendship in chemistry." He wiggled his fingers at the fake blonde as she passed by with a friend.

Bruce just stared at Tony, shocked at how simple things seemed in Tony's eyes. Most people would just roll with whatever was being said expecting it to be fact. Tony could and would change fact for the rest of his life, but that wasn't known to our young Bruce Banner.

"I'm sorry, Bruce. I thought you had heard me in chemistry. You responded to my question." His eyes were jumping from person to person, but his face gave off the look of being puzzled.

"I assumed you were being sarcastic."

"Oh, I was, but sometimes my sarcasm is laced with truth. And one shouldn't make assumptions. You know what they say. Assume means making an _ass_ out of _you_ and _me_."

They were coming up to the classroom. Walking through the classroom doors, they earned a confused and doubtful expression from the teacher.

"I think our teacher is going to have a revelation like Mr. Henry did in Chem," Bruce muttered to Tony.

"Probably. I assume she'll stick us together too, not that that's a problem," Tony said taking a seat nearby.

Bruce sat as well "I thought assumptions made one an ass."

Tony smirks, turning his head to Bruce. "My friend, I am an ass. In fact, I'm _the_ ass."

**Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I didn't know where to take my story. I just got Avengers on Blu-ray and DVD though. I was re-inspired along with other movies and books containing snobby main characters. XD I love Tony, so it's okay. Hope you enjoy. **

**REMEMBER: You should review, so I know what people do and don't like about my writing style and story. You never know, I might accommodate the reader. ;)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3

Lunch could not have come fast enough for our young Bruce Banner. Wacky enough, Bruce and Tony did have the same exact schedule for the entire day. Unfortunately, Bruce was beginning to tire of his new "friend".

"In all seriousness though, Bruce, I believe that our art teacher is an absolute idiot. How in the world did she believe that _that_ crudely drawn circle is _perfect_? She was probably just being nice because the dude was a football player. I never really understood women's fascination with jocks. I mean, most aren't even smart. And if they are somewhat smart, they are popping brain cells every second at practice getting hit around," Tony rambled, eyes flitting like usual from person to person asthey headed to the cafeteria. "Most of those sports don't teach you how to fight properly. Those jocks lose patience and build up too much adrenaline and aggressive mindsets to be beneficial to society. I believe sports are the whole reason we have things such as bullies. That and parents who are stupid as well."

"TONY!" Bruce stopped two feet from the lunch hall.

"Yes?" Tony also paused, his eyes finally focusing on his companion. "What? Did I say something wrong? And by that I mean, did I say something offensive? I'm rarely if ever wrong. Also, the things I said were meant for jocks and imbeciles which you are neither."

Bruce scoffed."How do you know I'm not a jock? I could be a wrestler or something."

Tony's eyes jerked up and down Bruce's body. "Uh, Bruce? You seem to be forgetting that you have no athleticism in you whatsoever. Come on." He began striding towards the lunchroom.

"Fine! Track!" Bruce yelled following quickly behind.

"Bruce, the fattest girls could probably run circles around you." Tony glanced at the lunch line in disgust.

"You're exaggerating." Bruce picked up a tray and selected some of the foods Tony had just been scrutinizing.

"Obviously." Tony turned to more interesting matters by looking out over the seating in the lunch room. "Where to sit? By girls? No, I don't want them sniveling on my shoulder when they realize they're douchebag boyfriends are in fact douchebags. Geeks with trading cards? Pass for obvious reasons. Jocks? No way in hell. Student Council? Maybe.."

Bruce handed the lunch lady a paper for his lunch. Tony peeked at what it said: Exempt – Free Lunch.

"So where do you live, Bruce?" Tony lead Bruce to a table where a bunch of advanced students sat judging by their books. However,, instead of sitting there, he took a circular table nearby.

Bruce blushed. "Nowhere special."

"Yeah, but where?" Tony took out his boxed lunch complete with a bottle of mineral water, professional roast beef, a baked potato warmed by a little machine, and fruit salad with kiwi, strawberries, bananas, and pineapple.

Bruce pushed his mystery meat around his tray. "Drop it, okay?" he snapped.

Tony held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, another time then." He snatched Bruce's tray away, dumping it into the garbage can.

Bruce stood up fast. "What the hell?!"

"You're not eating that crap. It just screams diarrhea and food poisoning. Have some of mine." He pushed the contents of his lunch towards Bruce.

Bruce grumbled, "I don't take charity."

"It isn't charity. This is something a friend would do or at least that's what my mother tells me. She's a bit more socially apt than I, so I took her word for it." Tony popped a kiwi slice into his mouth.

"You've never had a friend?"Bruce asked kind of shocked. He'd had friends, but always found it was easier to be by himself.

Tony shrugs. "Does the butler count? Probably not, he's a dick anyway. I bet I could build a better one for crying out loud."

**I know! I haven't posted since last year. I was planning on posting every week, but then I thought my story was one would like it. I revisit the story and BOOM! people like it. I apologize, and I hope I will get better self confidence wise so I can continue with this story. Please remember to review. I can't continue without feedback! Thank you to those of you who have followed, favorited, and reviewed. Also! If you know of any fun and slightly advanced experiments the boys could do, they could be incorporated into the story. They're adventures will be coming up soon!**


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